after watching the highlights of the 1988 CC final i cant help but feel more entrained by the 1988 final than the current final we had on saterday......
is there something wrong with me or was the final not all cracked up what it was meant to be.
Defensive systems are so tight these days and guys don't miss as many tackles so the ol empassioned berserker bust through and carrying 5 guys before getting the offload away isn't seen much these days, also generally you dont see as many push over trys or tight heads as the good ol days!
i agree allblack and blue but if one looks at the attitude one can see that those players played with more speed and more purpose. another major thing for me is how the rucks were handled. i really think rugby is way to technical in its rules and there needs to be a change. i am very bored to be honest by rugby union these days
Good point about rugby being way to technical. The plot has been lost, the public want to be entertained, the way it's going rugby fans will all be rocket scientist.
Yea i really think bringing back rucking will help alot, you watch how the AB's participate in the breakdowns; it's like their taking the piss out of the rule book. rucking wil lmake them change that and how they defend but will ultimately speed the game up.
from a coaching perspective the ruck area right now is a dark area for me in terms how ref and coaches handle it. there is just to many rules and to be fair trying to organise that area of the game cant be done. one does not want guys diving on players ext but things like the gate ext need to be pulled and hands in the ruck really needs to be looked at to be allowed. countering that by allowing rucking will give teams the chance to counter that allow teams to sort it out themselves. much better way to go about it.
they should not go crazy and ruck guys faces but if a bloke is in the wrong side of the ruck then his jersey should be handled like they handle the grass in my view. it should still be used in a orderly fashion but it will lead to much quicker ball as you you black and blue. it will suck in more forwards into the ruck and space will open as the net result
I would still like to see the current rules in action at first, I think once bodys start getting 'spit out the back' the ref can see and do a better job, would make counter rucking more of a contest and fair with less body's in the road and the guys who were spit out and would normally have been trapped can return to their line.
Obviously boot studs would need to be inspected and rucking of the head made a professional foul.
hands in the ruck/playing the ball i dunno, i think it might cause more turnovers against the run of play (if a team is on the front foot it should be harder to get the ball off of them and require a good strong well timed counter ruck imo) and i would deff still want to see tacklers have to get to their feet before being able to compete for the ball or roll away which rucking would give some incentive to do anyway.
